


For the Vagabonds

by OrdinaryVegan



Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: M/M, Post-Canon, Tumblr Prompt, expected levels of snark, inaccurate depictions of geography
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-28
Updated: 2017-02-28
Packaged: 2018-09-27 11:45:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,301
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10019261
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OrdinaryVegan/pseuds/OrdinaryVegan
Summary: Neil and Andrew versus the Maserati and the mountains.





	

**Author's Note:**

> prompt by anon: Neil and Andrew get lost in the woods and Neil twists his ankle, so Andrew has to carry him to safety (how and why this happens is the real challenge)

"You're kidding, right?"

"Yes, Neil. Because I'm known for my practical jokes."

Neil rolls his eyes as Andrew slams the hood of the Maserati back into place and crosses his arms, leaning against the front of the car. Andrew has deduced that the transmission is indeed shot to hell, and that this beautiful piece of Italian machinery will not be moving from its current location without the assistance of a tow truck.

He looks around at the deserted I-40, neither head nor taillight to be seen. It is nearly 3:00am, and they are somewhere between North Carolina and Tennessee. Neil had tried to convince Andrew to stop for the night a few hours ago, but Andrew will admit that he should have listened if hell happens to freeze over. He tilts his head back to stare at the dark sky above him. They're far enough away from civilization that the stars are uninhibited by any city lights. While this may be aesthetically pleasing, it also means that he and Neil are, for lack of a better word, fucked.

Andrew turns his head to the right at the sound of Neil incessantly tapping his fingers on the hood of the car. Neil meets his gaze and then flits his eyes across the rest of Andrew's face.

"Can you fix it?"

"No."

Neil watches him for a few more seconds before releasing a dejected sigh and pulling out his phone. 

"No service. Of course. Because why would anything be working right now?"

Now it's Andrew's turn to roll his eyes. "Okay drama queen, take it down a notch. All we have to do is walk to the next town or until one of us gets service. It can't be that hard."

"The next town isn't for like twenty miles! It's already 3:00, and _we have practice in the morning, Andrew_." 

"Okay, well I guess we'll just be late."

Neil has no words. His mouth drops open in shock, absolutely aghast that Andrew thinks this is an acceptable solution. 

"Wait, okay, let's—let's think about this first." He pauses, looks at the stretch of road in front of them. "I bet if we cut through the trees here on the right, we can shorten the distance to the next town."

"Neil. We're barely out of the mountains. The trees just lead to _more trees_."

"No, this is definitely a good idea. We'll just go a little ways into the forest and see if we can reach one of the smaller towns that doesn't connect to the interstate. It'll work."

Who is he trying to convince? Must be himself. It's certainly not working on Andrew. 

At Andrew's lack of response, Neil says, "It's fine. I'll just go by myself, and you can wait here. I'll go half a mile, then come back if I don't find anything, and we'll figure something else out." He looks at Andrew with determination, refusing to back down. If anything can convince Neil Josten to walk into a dark, mountainous forest alone in the middle of the night, it's the threat of missing an Exy practice.

Andrew levels him with a hard glare, mutters, "Like hell," and follows him into the woods.

\---

Neil opens his eyes and studies the complex interweaving of branches and leaves that stretches out across his field of vision. 

Approximately five seconds passes before he begins to wonder how exactly he wound up on the ground in the first place. A twinge of pain coming from his head and his right ankle makes it onto his radar, but he bypasses it without a thought. He turns his head to the left. He can just barely make out an irate Andrew staring daggers at him. 

"Uh...hi," Neil says, leery of Andrew's response. 

"Shut up."

Yep. That's about what he expected.

"So...care to fill me in on what happened?"

Andrew just stares. Seems to be trying to gather enough energy to deign responding to Neil's questions.

"You were an idiot, as usual. Decided that the best way to solve our problems was by running off into the woods. Were you trying to be a Thoreau? I didn't know you were a poet."

"Ha ha. Yeah. I mean why am I on the ground?"

Andrew points down to the small log he is sitting on. "See this? Apparently it came to life and tried to strangle you. Or that's what I'm assuming happened, since surely you would have been agile enough to step two inches higher than normal in order to avoid it." 

Neil grimaces slightly, but Andrew isn't finished. He points again, this time toward Neil.

"See that rock? You may remember it. It introduced itself to your face right before it met the ground. You've made several new acquaintances this morning." 

Well that explains the headache. It couldn't have knocked him out completely, or Andrew would be more concerned...probably. Whatever. It's fine.

"Where are we?" Neil asks, hoping he likes the answer.

"Before you took off in this direction, you said something about lights. So maybe we're close to civilization, now."

Neil breathes a sigh of relief, followed by, "Okay." He can work with this. He's starting to remember, and he definitely did see a flash of what looked like headlights through these trees, maybe half a mile away. 

He moves to stand but only manages to get halfway up, grabbing onto the tree next to him for support. His ankle is doing a good deal more than just twingeing, now. Neil tries to put his weight on it and hisses out a surprised, "Ow!" When did minor injuries start to affect him like this again?

Having had enough of Neil's display of ineptitude, Andrew stands and makes his way over. "Well that's going to be a problem."

"No! No, it's really not. I can make it, I promise. I'm fi—”

"Don't."

Neil sighs and tries again. "It's really not that bad. It might be a little broken, but I've had worse."

"'A little broken'," Andrew deadpans.

"Whatever, I'll survive," Neil insists. "Just help me find a branch or something to lean on, and we can get out of here."

"You are insufferable."

Neil ignores him and begins looking around for something to use as a crutch. He doesn't notice Andrew moving until he is directly in front of him, staring straight into his eyes.

"Get on my back."

"...what?" 

Andrew grits his teeth, jaw visibly clenching. "You heard me."

Neil just stares. Dumbfounded. Andrew huffs out an agitated breath and turns around, giving Neil a lovely view of the back of his head.

After weighing his options for at least thirty seconds, Neil admits that this is probably the most efficient solution. Their range of choices is very slim, and Andrew is offering, so what the hell.

"Yes or no?"

Andrew lets out yet another exasperated breath. " _Yes,_ Neil."

Neil slowly puts his hands on Andrew's shoulders, testing for any negative reaction. He is met only with solid muscle and determination. Neil leans forward as Andrew bends down slightly, grabbing behind Neil's knees and successfully securing him on his back. Neil's right hand now holds his left wrist, and his chin is resting on Andrew's shoulder. Andrew looks to the left to meet Neil's eyes, narrows his own, then looks back to the trees ahead of them. 

The pair begins their trek through the wilderness in search of signs of humanity. A couple hundred yards or so later, they both catch the telltale sound of a car making its way down the highway. Andrew sets off in its general direction, and Neil voices a quiet, "Thank you," in Andrew's ear. He gets no verbal reply, but he's pretty sure he doesn't imagine the momentary tightening of Andrew's hands on his legs.

**Author's Note:**

> thank you so much for reading! i hope you enjoyed it. title from Panic! At The Disco's "This Is Gospel".
> 
> come scream with me on tumblr @theordinaryvegan


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